2017 Trip Seven: Acadia and Cape Cod: Sept. 18

Ellsworth, ME. Tuesday Sept. 19

Thuya Garden

Monday the 18th started great, hit a real “blah” period in the middle of the day, and then ended great. Lets discuss the blah first. Bar Harbor-best summed up by Chris’ comment: “This is ugly. Get us out of here.” To be fair, if you want to shop, go to Bar Harbor. Maybe if you want to eat, try it at night. Bar Harbor is the commercial hub, the lodging hub, the shopping hub, and the eating hub. It is also a cruise ship Mecca with ships stopping almost daily from May through October. Monday one cruise ship dumped 5,000 passengers on to the eager tour guides, shops, etc. I would guess this is no different from other small city locations where cruise ships arrive. Add on other visitors by car, and the streets were jammed. We left immediately.

Now that the blah is behind us, lets move on to the great. Oops, well, weather is not great if you like blue skies. The temperature has been in the mid-60s F and light winds. Fog and clouds have predominated so forget blue sky photos and wonderful vista photographs. Still, it is pleasant walking/hiking weather and fog gives a different dimension to many of the pictures. We have not minded the fog and clouds.

Our first stop was not until almost 9 AM. It takes us about half an hour to reach interesting locations in Acadia from the Hampton Inn in Ellsworth. Thuya Gardens is not far from Asticou Azalea Gardens and is a trove of blooming plants. Also part of the Land and Gardens Preserve, the staff were cutting dead blooms and raking lines in the sand walkways when we arrived.

Thuya Gardens is part of what is called the “Quiet Side” of Acadia National Park. Away from the Bar Harbor crowds, our walks and stops have generally been calm and non-hectic. We continued this pattern with a hike along Friends trail leading to Little Long Pond.

Friends Trail

Spider webs along Friends Trail

Friends Trail suggested to me the forests in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings series. A variety of soils from spongy to rocky, bent trees casting weird shapes, spider webs hanging from trees, and trails that enticed you in with a pleasant surface but slowly deteriorating to a rocky, steep ascent to the pond. Then you get to the pond, and the carriage roads around it returned you to a pleasant, relaxing walk.

Seal Harbor harbor

By now it was time for a break. Seal Harbor has a small harbor with a few businesses. Main Street could best be described as two parking lanes and one travel lane. My Dad would have loved it; keep your car evenly on either side of the yellow center line. We had just a muffin, tea and smoothie here but the cafe was enveloped in the aromas of lasagna and garlic bread that were the special of the day.

Cadillac Mountain-no blue sky, no blue ocean

We went on the Park Loop Road to Cadillac Mountain. For the uninformed, Cadillac Mountain is the place to go to see the best vistas in the park, particularly at sunrise. Well, the fog has wiped away any sunrise options. 10 AM to 3 PM is supposed to be a very busy time for Cadillac (tour buses from the boats and late rising tourists). It was still patchy fog and clouds, but we gave it a chance, hoping for a break in the sky and maybe a break in the throngs. I guess one out of two is not too bad; the throngs were missing, the fog was present. I don’t think the weather is going to allow for any vista views from Cadillac Mountain for us during our time here.

View from Loop Drive

We continued along the Loop Road, stopping at Sieur de Monts visitor center. Sieur de Monts has a nature center, an Indian artifacts collection run by the Abbe Museum, and the Wild Gardens of Acadia. None of the three intrigued us and we continued driving.

Our hike along the coast to Otter Point

Since the Bar Harbor experience eliminated lunch, we made a quick stop for a candy bar before our 3 PM park ranger hike. The hike was an hour and 3/4 along the eastward facing cliffs ending at the southern tip-Otter Point. Our Ranger informed us that Mount Desert Island was named by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain as “lle de Monts Desert”, meaning island of bare mountains. Evidently it was treeless back in 1604. The island was formed by volcanic action, carved and impacted by glaciers and erosion. Mount Cadillac was a volcano. Much of the rock here is granite-extremely hard.

Around Otter Point

Acadia National Park at 30,000 acres represents only one-half of Mount Desert Island. Private property is scattered through out. The park is not always contiguous with large stretches of private land between parcels of park land. Our hike along the cliffs were along the southeast corner of the island.

Video of waves crashing near Otter Point, Acadia National Park

While the skies were not a beautiful blue, the waves were starting to crash. Hurricane Jose has been downgraded as a tropical storm but is still stirring up wave action along the coast. We hope to see further storm action on Wednesday.

As we hiked back to our car, we conversed with two women watching the waves. One was recuperating from hip surgery and a friend from Boston came up to help her. The local woman recommended a restaurant in Northeast Harbor, the Tan Turtle, where we had dinner.

Ed and Chris Tuesday, Sept 19. (Happy Birthday Jude!)